Pinochet's lawyers begin extradition fight

Published: Friday, December 11, 1998

LONDON (AP) - Lawyers for Gen. Augusto Pinochet went back to the House of Lords on Thursday, hoping to stop Spain's effort to extradite the former Chilean dictator to stand trial for murder and other human rights abuses committed during his 17-year rule.

Their plea to overturn a ruling by the highest court of appeal apparently is unprecedented in English law. It came a day before Pinochet was due for his first court appearance in what is likely to be a long and costly extradition battle.

Pinochet's attorneys argued, once again, that he is entitled to sovereign immunity for any actions committed while a head of state. That argument was rejected two weeks ago in a 3-2 decision by a House of Lords tribunal.

The 83-year-old general's attorneys also said they might seek permission to contest Wednesday's decision by Home Secretary Jack Straw, which allowed the extradition proceedings to go ahead.

"We have lodged a petition with the House of Lords that the decision of their lordships that Sen. Pinochet does not have sovereign immunity should not be allowed to stand," said Michael Caplan of the law firm Kingsley Napley.

Grounds for the appeal were not immediately disclosed.

Straw ruled that Spain could seek Pinochet's extradition on charges including torture and conspiracy to murder, related to human rights abuses in Chile after Pinochet took power in a military coup in 1973.

Pinochet's supporters have complained that Lord Hoffmann, one of the judges who voted against Pinochet's appeal, was the director of a charity associated with Amnesty International, which has long campaigned to bring Pinochet to court.